(Editor's note: University of Montana news release)
MISSOULA — In the ever-changing landscape of college basketball, the makeup of a roster changes from year-to-year more than ever before. It’s a challenge that coaches across the country have had to adjust to with the transfer portal taking up a larger and larger place in the plans.
It’s led to the largest class of transfers in Montana basketball history with eight overall players coming to Missoula after a previous stop in their collegiate careers. Jeremiah Dargan, a transfer from West Valley College, and Tyler Thompson, Montana’s only high schooler in the 2024 class, signed with Montana during the early period in November.
Now, the Grizzlies add seven more players to the 2024 class. They will join seven returning players from last year’s squad that won 24 games, including Montana’s first postseason victory since 2006.
“The way that college basketball is going right now, it’s very difficult to recruit the way you maybe did five years ago,” head coach Travis DeCuire said. “But I still believe in culture, I still believe in consistency, and I still believe in tradition.”
The new group features four guards and three forwards. Jensen Bradtke (Saint Mary’s), Jalen Foy (Northeastern JC), and Amari Jedkins (Green Bay) will bolster the frontcourt while Kai Johnson (Western Washington), Austin Patterson (Sacramento State), Malik Moore (Pepperdine), and Joe Pridgen (Northeastern) join a talented Grizzly backcourt.
Montana brings back Money Williams and Brandon Whitney, both starters during stretches of the season, and Chase Henderson at the guard position. Te’Jon Sawyer, the sixth-man for Montana in 2023-24, is the lone returning post player.
The Griz return 31 percent of their minutes, 33 percent of their points, 25 percent of their rebounds, and 45 percent of their assists from last year. They lost most of the production with the graduation of four seniors who contributed over 50 percent of Montana’s stats in the four main categories.
The five players that transferred out combined for under 15 percent of Montana’s total minutes and less than 10 percent of its total points. If Money Williams would have remained healthy, the numbers would have been significantly higher for the returning players as he averaged 13.4 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 3.3 assists.
“We brought in eight new faces, and that’s a lot. On paper it’s maybe too much, especially when you’re coming off of a good season,” DeCuire said. “The upside to that is three returners played a lot of minutes, scored a lot of points for us, and were either starters or potential starters.”
The group that is coming in was tailored to fit alongside the pieces already in place for DeCuire. In order to find the right combination of players, his staff has been hard at work scoring film and making phone calls. The process lasted longer than expected, but DeCuire is more than happy with the results.
“I think we had a very productive spring and summer. It took us a little time to fill all of those spots, and one of the reasons it took so long is we weren’t offering money,” DeCuire said. “Without using NIL in college basketball, it’s very difficult to get good players as transfers that have a stat sheet that says they are a good player, so we had to watch a lot of film. We were told no a lot, we said no a lot, but with that being said I’m very confident in the group we brought in.”
DeCuire has never had a losing season at Montana, carrying on a long tradition of winning in Missoula. His team is coming off a 24-win season, but they came one half of basketball short of their ultimate goal of returning to the NCAA Tournament.
After a couple of down years around COVID, the now 11th-year head coach at Montana has re-established the culture, and the six new players that will suit up for the Grizzlies come the winter fit right in with that winning tradition.
“I think they fit our culture. I think all of them are about winning and want to impact winning in any way that they can, and not one of them had NIL come up in the conversation,” DeCuire said. “We’re excited about where we are at. Are we talented enough? We will find out quickly, but I believe we are.”
Jensen Bradtke / 6-10 / 220 / R-Fr. / Saint Mary’s / Sandringham, Victoria, Australia
Bradtke spent a single season at Saint Mary’s, redshirting last year for a 26-win team that won the West Coast Conference title over Gonzaga. The 6-10 forward was the latest in the long line of Australian players to join the Gaels, and he will also carry on that tradition at Montana.
A product of the NBA Global Academy in Canberra, Australia, Bradtke will add an interior presence for Montana and still has all four years of eligibility remaining.
Coach DeCuire on Bradtke: “It’s another situation where he redshirted so the stat sheet doesn’t say what he is capable of. Highly touted as a high school incoming player at Saint Mary’s, a top 20 program that has been very successful with Australians. If you are good enough to go there, you definitely had a pretty productive high school career. NBA Academy guy with length, he shoots the ball and stretches the floor. He’s very fundamentally sound with a lot of room for growth and I’m very excited to have him. I think he’s a guy that very early in his career can compete for starting minutes.”
Jalen Foy / 6-8 / F / So. / Northeastern JC / Las Vegas, Nev.
Foy spent his sophomore season at Northeastern JC in Sterling, Colo. He started all 26 games for the Plainsmen, averaging 14.1 points and 8.2 rebounds per game. He scored 20-plus points seven times last season, including a career high 26 points on Nov. 7, 2023.
He will have two years of eligibility remaining at Montana. The loss of Laolu Oke leaves a hole in Montana’s rebounding, but Foy should help remedy that. He had 10 games with double-digit rebounds in 2023-24, including a career high 15.
Coach DeCuire on Foy: “He’s a Swiss army knife. He does a little bit of everything. If you look at his stats from this last season of junior college, he led his team in about everything that matters. Scoring, rebounding, steals, assists. When you watch him, he was also willing to defend the best player on the opposite team. These are all attributes of a guy that impacts winning. He’s perfect for the character of our program and the direction that we continue to go, and all the things that we try to compete for at Montana.”
Amari Jedkins / 6-7 / F / R-So. / Wisconsin-Green Bay / Racine, Wis.
Jedkins joins Montana from Green Bay, where he spent two seasons. He redshirted his first year and was injured just 11 games into his first season on the floor. In his limited time, Jedkins averaged 4.0 points, 2.2 rebounds and 0.5 assists in just under 16 minutes per game.
He played his high school basketball at Racine Case HS, winning a WIAA Division I State title as a senior while averaging 16.9 points, 9.4 rebounds, and 2.5 assists per game.
Coach DeCuire on Jedkins: “Very interesting scenario. Redshirted and then played as a freshman. Very similar to Money’s situation in terms of playing with an injury and not playing a full season. The film didn’t tell a lot. It showed activity, it showed aggression, it showed his ability to defend. It showed upside. We brought him in on a visit and had the chance to evaluate him a little bit and thought there was more to his game than what we saw on film. The most important piece was how much he wanted to win and to develop and become a better basketball player. I think he’s a great fit in terms of his athleticism on both sides of the ball, finishing plays off of our guards’ penetration, his ability to be versatile in ball-screen coverage and defending multiple positions. We haven’t had that since 2018, 2019, and so we are excited about his potential on both sides of the ball.”
Kai Johnson / 6-4 / 190 / Sr. / Western Washington / Olympia, Wash.
Johnson will transfer up from the D-II level, but he does it with a staggering resume after three years at Western Washington. He scored 1,133 points (13.5 per game) in his 84 appearances, and averaged 21.6 points per game as a junior to rank in the top 10 in the country.
He has a career high of 36 points and was in double figures in all 29 games for the Vikings. He will be a high-level threat from the perimeter as a career 39.3 percent 3-point shooter who improved to 41.6 percent last season.
Coach DeCuire on Johnson: “I enjoyed his visit as much as any we’ve had for a number of reasons. One, his level of competitiveness in the gym, and two, his level of confidence while talking about other potential commitments from other people. It didn’t impact his thought process in terms of willingness to compete. I think he’s comfortable enough in his skin and his abilities that whoever we have on our roster, he will find a way to impact and carve out a role for himself. You don’t find that much anymore. I think there’s a lot of athletes, especially when you have one year of eligibility, that are concerned about who else plays their position. He never asked those questions, he just wanted an opportunity to prove himself at the Division I level. He’s coming from a strong D-II conference where those big numbers have translated in the Big Sky before and he’s off to a great start this summer. We’re excited and grateful to have him, and I think there’s some potential for him to have an explosive season.”
Malik Moore / 6-5 / 190 / Jr. / Pepperdine / Ventura, Calif.
Moore spent his first two seasons at Pepperdine, starting 28 games and playing in 64 total for the waves. He averaged 8.8 points, 2.0 rebounds, and 1.9 assists per game last season for a 13-win team.
He will have two remaining years of eligibility to use at Montana, and should provide the type of versatility as a larger guard that has been a staple of DeCuire-coached teams in the past.
Coach DeCuire on Moore: “Now you’re looking at someone transferring down and both the stats and film say that he’s a good player. The Pepperdine staff says he was one of the favorites. Our few weeks here with him, we see why. Above and beyond the talent, it’s his attitude and his approach to every day. I think he will be fun to be around for coaches and players, and one of the important things for us was to have guys come in that have more than one year and he’s that. You can get a lot more done with guys when you have multiple offseasons to work. It’s been a long time since we’ve had a perimeter player with his size, his length, and guard skills like what he has. He can play 1 through 3, so I think he will blend very well with whoever is on the floor with him. Versatility is something that’s always been very important to us, and he exemplifies that.”
Austin Patterson / 6-3 / 185 / Sr. / Sacramento State / Sonora, Calif.
Patterson is familiar with the Montana program having spent the previous two seasons with Big Sky opponent Sacramento State. The guard will now come to Montana for his final year of eligibility and provide a veteran presence for the Griz having started 55 games for the Hornets.
Patterson averaged 9.5 points and 3.5 rebounds per game last season, making 63 three-pointers on 39.9 percent shooting. He found his groove late in the season, scoring in double figures in seven of the final 10 games including a career-high 29 points against Northern Colorado on Feb. 17.
Coach DeCuire on Patterson: “It’s easy to look into the words and misinterpret when I say solid, but I mean solid. You can’t win without solid. Josh Vazquez, Bobby Moorehead, guys that are going to be where they need to be when it’s time to be there. Guys that make open shots when it matters. Guys that understand your defensive concepts and execute them to the best of their ability. When I’m talking to someone else that plays his position, he hears what I say and then executes. He’s one of those guys that is easy to coach, he’s competitive, and oh-by-the-way, he’s an explosive shooter. I think there’s more in the tank than we’ve seen on film from him, too. I think there is some ability for him to do some things with the ball that maybe the stat sheet doesn’t necessarily say, so I think he will fit into our system very well. He’s already, in the first few weeks, shown his ability to pick up on concepts quickly and execute them. We anticipate that he’s going to be a major contributor to our success.”
Joe Pridgen / 6-5 / 227 / R-Sr. / Northeastern / Winchendon, Mass.
Coach DeCuire on Pridgen: “Rebounding, physicality, competitiveness. One of the things that was intriguing to us about Joe is when you look at his first two years at Wilmington and the numbers, they say good player. Early in his time at Northeastern, same thing. If you look at when the opportunity was there and he played big minutes and had a strong role, it was very productive scoring the ball, percentages, rebounding, defending. He can play a lot of positions. I think that was the biggest thing for us was we really needed someone to impact rebounding with (Laolu Oke) walking out of the door, but we also had to become a more physical basketball team and get back to where we had been prior to COVID. In terms of physicality, when he walks in the gym he will turn heads. He looks the part, but he plays a physical style of basketball as well. We look forward to him impacting us on both sides of the ball.”
